Bronchiectasis - How ya feeling?
Hi - I'm 64 years with and have had Bronch for 14 years. It's considered "advanced" now. I have had pretty much every bacteria and fungus throughout this time including MAC. Right now, for the first time in a long time, My sputum samples are good, I am not on any meds except my daily AC. I am otherwise healthy. My problem is I have daily fatigue, breathlessness and still cough up a lot of sputum (like a cup a day) as well as daily cough. But I otherwise feel well. I'm trying to determine if this is my baseline. In other words, are my symptoms from the lung damage so bad that I won't get any better? Does anyone have similar problems who have the condition without being in an exacerbation? My Pulm says it's hard to tell how I feel and says to do my best to push through to exercise my lungs (which I do). Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!
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I also go to UNC! I have dr. Patel. He is always very empathetic and honest with me. A comment he made once is any pulmonologist that claims they know a lot about bronchiectasis doesn’t know a lot about bronchiectasis. There’s just not enough research to answer many questions, but that’s what we are trying to find out. In absense of infection, self care is the best treatment: Airway clearance, exercise (as much as possible) and sleep.